From the USA to the EU

The first leg of the round the world flight took me from Pittsburgh, PA, USA to Rotterdam, Netherlands. Departing from Pittsburgh on May 6th, I flew to Toronto to collect my friend Mike. Mike is another private pilot from the UK; we flew together at University, and then again on a trip to the Dakotas in 2015.

From Toronto, Mike and I flew north through Canada. The original plan was to fly through Iqaluit, but poor weather drove us further south to Goose Bay instead. From there, we turned east and crossed to Greenland, Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, and finally the UK, arriving at Wick in Scotland. While the aircraft has the range to conduct this flight almost non-stop (via a more southern route), we took our time and enjoyed some of the stops along the way. The longest legs are less than half the range of the aircraft, even without using the ferry tank system, so we had plenty of flexibility in terms of diversion. This is an important safety factor when crossing the north Atlantic, with volatile weather!

The north Atlantic presents a number of challenges, that are not faced to such an extent on other sections of the flight. The first is the fact that, even in mid-May, the weather can be wintry and highly changeable. Heavy cloud cover often leads to the need to fly IFR, and the low temperatures can mean that icing is a threat even at fairly low altitudes. The combination of these can lead to long waits on the ground for suitable weather to safely continue, as well as the need to turn back or make long diversions if conditions deteriorate en-route.

If the worst happens, and one is forced to put the aircraft down in the sea or on land, conditions are harsh and forbidding. Mike and I were both wearing ocean survival suits and life-jackets with all the survival essentials we could practically pack in to them. The Winslow off-shore life-raft and ditching bag were kept close at hand and top priority in the event of a ditching; these make a tremendous difference in survivability. Over 90% of ditchings are survived, with the occupants exiting the aircraft safely; but many then succumb to the elements before help arrives. This could take a long time in the north Atlantic, and we had no intention of being added to this tally should the worst occur.

The day by day write-up of the Atlantic section of the trip can be found below.

• The Atlantic, Day 1 – Pittsburgh USA to Chibougamau, Canada
• The Atlantic, Day 2 and 3 – Chibougamau, Canada to Goose Bay, Canada
• The Atlantic, Day 4 – Goose Bay, Canada to Narsarsuaq, Greenland
• The Atlantic, Day 5 – Narsarsuaq, Greenland to Kulusuk, Greenland
• The Atlantic, Day 6 – Kulusk, Greenland to Keflavik, Iceland
• The Atlantic, Day 7 – Keflavik, Iceland to Vagar, Faeroe Islands
• The Atlantic, Days 8, 9 and 10 – Vagar, Faeroe Islands to Aberdeen, Scotland
• The Atlantic, Day 11 – Aberdeen, Scotland to Carlisle, England
• The Atlantic, Day 12 – Carlisle, England to Laddingford, England
• The Atlantic, Days 13 and 14 – The Scilly Isles, England
• The Atlantic, Days 15 and 16 – Cornwall, England to Snowdonia, Wales
• The Atlantic, Days 17 and 18 – Snowdonia, Wales to Laddingford, England
• The Atlantic, Day 19 – Laddingford, England to Rotterdam, Netherlands